Emergency apparatus for controlling flying-machines.



J. MEANS.

EMERGENCY ABPARATUS FOR GONTROLLING FLYING MACHINES.

v APPLICATION FILED 0016, 190s,

935,766. y l Patented-0cm, 1909.

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tdrailsinaa JAMES MEANS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

EMERGENCY APPARATUS FOR GONTROLLING FLYING-MACHINES.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MEANS, a citizen of the United States, and a.resident of Boston, in the county of Sulfolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Emergency Apparatus forControlling IFlying-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention Arelates to emergency apparatus for controlling flyingmachines.

It is well known that a flying machine having its sustaining-planesparallel to the geometric plane of the machine e. any plane which isparallel to both the longitudinal and lateral axes of the machine) isinert as distinguished from automatically self-righting; and that onehaving its sustaining planes forming a dihedral angle with the outeredge of the planes uppermost with reference to said plane of the machineis automatically self-righting, as moreffull-y vset forth in a paper bySir George Cayley, reprinted in [lle Aeronautical Annual, No. l,published at Boston, Massachusetts, 1895. A flying machine which has itsplanes forming such dihedral angle is subject to certain limitations asmore fully explained in a paper by Orville and Vilbur Vright in theGent/amy Magazine, published at New York, N. Y., September, 1908,-seepp. 642 and 643.

The object of my invention is to provide an emergency apparatus forcontrolling iiying machines whereby the operator by a single motion ofhand or foot is enabled to convert an inert flying machine into anautomatically self-righting machine.

With this object in view my invention consists essentially in a yingmachine having sustaining-planes normally parallel to the plane of themachine and to the direction of flight and means under the control ofthe operator for simultaneously moving all said planes into positionsinclined to said plane of the machine with their outer edges uppermostwith respect thereto whereby said planes pair by pair form dihedralangles.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of this application,Figure 1 represents a plan view of one embodiment of my invention andFig. 2 is a side view thereof. l

.I In that particular embodiment of my in vention herein selected forillustration A, A represent two pairs of sustaining-planes which mayhave any suitable size and shape and which are placed some distanceabove Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 6, 1908.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

Serial No. 456,459.

the center of gravity of the flying machine, one pair being fore-and-aftplanes and the other pair being lateral planes, as shown in Fig. l. Theaxles C C of each plane have bearings in the journals B B and saidjournals are supported to the frame work of the machine, extendingupwardly therefrom.

As shown in full'lines in Fig. 2, the planes A, A normal-ly are parallelto` the geometric plane of the machine and to the direction of Hight.WVhen they are so positioned the machine is inert. By suitableapparatus, herein shown as the controlling lever I-I and the levers androds D, E and F, the operator is enabled simultaneously to move all theplanes A A into positions inclined to the plane of the machine, with theouter edges of said planes uppermost, as shown in dotted lines in Fig.2, so that the machine is automatically self-righting. Any suitablemeansmay be provided for changiiigthe position of the planes, and in theparticular form of my invention herein describedthe levers F'F arerigidly secured to the block G, to which the lever I-I is connected bythe rod I, and each is pivotally connected with the connecting rod Ewhich vin turn is pivoted to an arm D secured to and depending from theaxles C which are rigidlyconnected with said planes. It will be obviousthat when the lever I-I is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, therods E will move in the directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. l,and consequently the planes A, pair by pair, will form dihedral angles.It will be understood that the lever H or other operating means may ifdesired be moved by a released spring or other suitable device.

If the aeroplane is motor-actuated, it is desirable that the meansemployed to shift the positions of the plane should simultaneously stopthe motor, and this may be effected by arranging a motor-controlcircuit, for instance the circuit of the sparker, so as to be closed bythe lever when the latter is in normal position and to be opened whenthe i tor-control circuit, and throw all the planes into the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that said planes pair by pair formdihedral angles with the outer edges of the 'planes uppermost relativelyto the machine. This brings into play the principle now commonly calledthe dihedral angle principle labove referred to and the flying machineupon that principle rights itself and slowly descends, thereby givingthe operator the' option of landing or resuming` flight; it beingassumed of course that the machine is operated at a sufficiently greataltitude to permit said principle to come into play.

Although I have described one particular embodiment of my invention inorder to more fully disclose the will be understood that I do not limitmyself to said embodiment inasmuch as many modiications may be madetherein by those skilled in the art without departing from saidprinciple. i y 1 I claim: Y i

l. A flying machine having a pair of fore-and-afvt sustaining planes anda pair of lateral sustaining-planes, all said planes being parallel to agiven geometric plane, and means under the control of the operator forsimultaneously changing the positions of all said planes so that eachpair will form a dihedral angle with the outer edges of each planeuppermost with respect to the machine.

2. A flying machine having sustainingprinciple thereof, it

planes normally parallel to the geometric plane of the machine, meansunder the control of the operator for simultaneously moving all saidplanes into positions inclined to said plane of the machine with theirouter edges uppermost with respect thereto, and a motor-control circuitarranged to be opened and closed by said means.

3. A flying machine having sustainingplanes normallyso positioned as torender said machine inert, means under the 'control of the operator forsimultaneously changing the positions of all said planes so as to renderthe machine automatically self-right ing and a motor-control circuitarranged to be opened and closed by said means.

4. A liying machine having a plurality of pairs of sustaining-planes,all parallel to a given geometric plane, means under the control of theoperator for simultaneously changing the positions of all said planes sothat each pair will form a dihedral angle with the outer edges most withrespect to said machine and a motor-control circuit arranged to beopened and closed by said means.

5. A flying machine having sustainingplanes normally parallel to thegeometric plane of the Amachine, a controlling lever, means actuatedthereby for simultaneously moving all of said planes into positionsinclined to said plane' of the machine with their outer edges uppermostwith respect thereto and a motor-control circuit arranged to beopenedandclosed by said lever.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th day ofOct. 1908.

JAMES MEANS.

Vitnesses:

E. B. ToMLiNsoN,l GEO. K; WooDwoR'rrI.

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